Make Me Shiver
by deea
Summary: Nathan and Haley knew each other before college,they met when they where 15, in summer camp, but they get to see each other again years later at Duke.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone!

This is my first fic EVER and I apologise for it's suckiness. I guess I'm still learning. Anyway, It's a **Naley fic, totally AU, set up in college **– I know that's not the bit original, but I've always liked this setting and always wanted to do one myself (even though I love ATABA, my inspiration in so many ways, but not for plagiarism, don't worry). I'm trying something new. With the personalities, their background, their future.

**Summary**: Nathan and Haley knew each other before college - they met when they where 14-15, in summer camp -, but they get to see each other again years later at Duke. He's in the bball team, desperatly trying to go pro after college, he **lives for bball** and that's it, doesn't quite do relationships and he's not a sex-freak, either. Haley, on the other hand, wants to become a **professional dancer**. She did a music tour as a background dancer when she was in highschool and also she did a year at Juilliard. Now, both her and Nathan are sophomore at Duke. First day of school… that's where the story starts. The other parrings will be: **Brooke** – Haley's BFF/**Lucas** – Nathan's older bro, **Peyton** – freshman, future friend with the girls/**Jake**-Haley's older bro.

Just wanted to let everyone know what the fandoms will be, so you won't read in vain. It's gonna be a looong trip, though. (avoid the word journey drink)

**Rating**: T (M, when it's the case, and it will be announced)

Enjoy!

**Make Me Shiver**

**Disclaimer**: I disclaim that the character names in this story, besides some less significant, are not mine, they are property of The Creator aka Mark Schwann. All Duke University and Boston Celtics material/refferences belong to their right owners. I'll use italics and quote signs to mark poetry, prose, lyrics, etc, that don't belong to me. The title is inspired by BJL's song "Shiver".

**Chapter 1 – Prologue **

_God, I hate this place! Really, really hate this place! Why do you have to punish me this way? Can't I get something light like, I don't know, a zit or a musty baggle or maybe – oh, yes, I mean it – Brooke singing in the shower for an hour? This is crazy, I don't want to be here, I don't belong here! __  
_

_  
__First week is almost done and I already want to run away. I don't know anyone – even though most students haven't arrived yet, for them school really starts next Monday, unlike for others -, I don't like anyone – even though I haven't got to know a single soul in here – and, mostly, I'm all alone. __  
_

_  
__Wanna know how a dorm room really looks like? A big, cold box full of scattered little boxes, that's all. Really creepy. My room is full of boxes and, every now and then, I can hear every screeching sound in this place. __  
_

_  
__Mom didn't called, dad didn't e-mailed. Wait, let me check again. No, sorry, no e-mail. „You have 0 messages." Congratulations to me! Who-hoo! Hellooo? I'm over here, in the middle of nowhere, screaming from the top of my lungs and no one even bothers to aknowledge my existence. __  
_

_  
__I'm going to grab a baggle... maybe, just maybe, it's the musty one! In my dreams! BRB!_

10 minutes later

(1st edit of the blog)

_Ok, I'm back! Yes, as you can see, I'm still alive and kicking, meaning the baggle was just fine! Damn! I think, now that my stomach doesn't do funny noises anymore, that, maybe, I could rethink this whole mess. I should give this thing a chance. _

_I mean, how many people get to go to a prestigious university as this one, how many get to have an appartment style dorm room on Central Campus, how many get to have a king size bed, a TV, a freaking DVD player in their room? Not many. Well, maybe 3, actually, considering I'm the last one to get the „James' full-college-package" from mommy and daddy dear. _

_You remember, the last one, Jake. I told you about Jake a few posts ago. You know, Chucky-Cheese freak/basketball without the pedigree player/music junkie of a brother. You remember now, huh? Me too, and I also remember now that he hasn't arrived yet. Maybe he's still at that darn festival. _

_My god, he's so annoying. Every year, the same old story, since he was 15. He goes all the way to New York to this rock/hairy junkie festival before school starts, with his rat-pack of a friends and doesn't even bother once to ask me to go along. No, Haley James doesn't do concerts, she doesn't do fun, she doesn't do days in the middle of nowhere, with only a backpack and a smile. Hallo, again, Mr Freaking Oblivious? _

_I was the one that did the Justified tour with Justin-oh-so-gorgeous-Timberlake for almost 2 years, I'm the one who had to stay on stage for three hours and to „have fun" while all those horny teenagers screamed and fainted before my eyes, I'm the one who had to travel from East to West, from NY to Berlin to Paris to Tokyo „with only a backpack and a smile". _

_So, yeah. Sorry, bro, maybe I don't do small cheap festivals, but, I sure as hell don't do „pinning in my room until I turn blue" either! __  
_

_  
__It's sad... I shouldn't waste my energy on this thing, I should just suck it up, because I got myself into this mess. I was the one that lied and now I just have to finish what I started. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't have lied about it. I mean who is crazy enough to lie about geting accepted at Juilliard? Wait, that's right. Me. Haley James, former dancer, former daughter, former party girl, former... __  
_

_  
__Yeah, I should just embrace this and let go of my dream. **Dream**. Who does that anymore? They say dreams are for fouls. That's what dad always believes and now got me to believe it too. _

_I mean, how hard can it be to let it go? Because I can still dance, I can still study, I can still finish college. Just not at Juilliard. It's just a name. Duke. Juilliard. They're just names. Now. __  
_

_  
__So, I'm gonna try. I'm gonna give it a chance. I'm gonna suck it up, unpack, go to classes, take my extra dance courses, socialize, all I need to do in order to finish this year. It's paid for, so I might as well take full advantage of it. They want me to do this? Okey, let the games begin._

---

(2nd edit of the blog)

_Ohh, it's enfurriating! I hate him. I really do. How dare he do this to me? I mean, just hours ago I was „putting it all behind and moving forward" – that's what they kept saying – and now he says he doesn't know when he'll be back because he has to do some appartment-seeing. _

_That's right. Jake wants to move out of the dorm with Lucas because it's senior year and they need to get their shit together (or something along those lines). __  
_

_  
__Oh, come on! Like moving out of a dorm will make you St. Jake. Please! You just called me, half drunk, half eaten up by some chicks, to tell me that you're having the time of your life and that you don't know when you'll be back. __  
_

_  
__I just got here, I'm depressed, I'm lonely, I need you here and you're just gonna pack up and go. Just like that. I'm your little sister that you always get to tease and you're just gonna put that aside and move? I'm here because of you, mister. You're the one that supported Dad's crazy idea by telling „Maybe it will me better if she comes to Duke, with me!". I left Juilliard and you.. you're living me. Again. __  
_

_  
__Nice job, ass! Talk to you when hell freazes over. I wish you good luck with operation: „get your shit together". And I hope you'll enjoy talking to the hand next time you see me. _

_God, this blog is really depressing right now. I'm really sorry! Now I've turn it into my „dear diary" crap. I didn't mean to. I know that the last couple of posts scream desperation... I'm just, lonely, I guess. I have no one here. _

_And I miss Brooke. She used to be my „dear diary", she used to listen, banter, ignore, then banter again and now she's going back to California, living the OC dream, while I'm here. Pining, moping, whining, till the day I day. __  
_

_  
__Really depressing._

---

(3rd edit of the blog)

_Okey. I'm gonna do it. Okey, I'm going to the party. I mean, in the state I'm in, it doesn't really make any difference. If I have to stay in this rotten place, ALONE, I really need to make this easy for myself. Okey. So, Haley, stop the torture and let's mingle with the good people. It's Saturday, for God's sake. Don't make imaginary friends in your room. I think the spider too is bored with your story already. Stop torturing him, al least. _

_Okey, going to get dress, take that invitation and just go. How hard can it be? You did this a thousand times. You're a people person, go be with the people. __  
_

_  
__First day of the rest of my life. Here goes nothing. _

_ETA: What's with the „okey", kinda like „anyway", huh!_

---

She closed the laptop that was siting on a large box near the closet and began to dig up through another box, a smaller one this time, that was in front of her bed. She was trying to find the jewellery box. She knew it must have been there. She deliberatly put it in the purple box, this purple box.

„Oh, come on! Where are you? ... YES!", she squealed happily.

She took the small black box and opened it slowly, like it was a piece of porcelain. She found it at the bottom, entagled with the necklace that Brooke gave her last spring. She pull it out and placed it on the bedspread.

It still looked so... sureal. Fragile, yet strong, childish, yet priceless, regular, yet unique. For anyone else, it looked like a crackerjack cheap ring, but for her, it was the most valuable piece of jewellery she possessed.

She put it slowly on her left pinky and just stared at it for a while. Yep, the pinky was the only finger that she could get in the ring now, but that wasn't her concern. It never was her concern whether she would wear it with that blouse, or with that bracelet, or on that finger, or for that ocassion. She would just wear it. All the time.

She sighted slowly. _Now_, she was ready.

**---**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Let them say what their gonna say, but tonight I just don't really care. I've seen it all, I've got nothing to prove. We could just pretend. Come with me tonight, we could make it last forever. _(The Veronicas)

Saturday night. A beautiful August night. Durham looked really peaceful for a Saturday night.

Or maybe you're just high on seeing things. Maybe you're rushing things just a little. Nothing is really what it looks like. Behind closed doors, mom and dad don't really get along, your boyfriend cheats on you every chance he gets, you don't look like a model just by eating your cereals every morning, the guy at the caffeteria doesn't enjoy serving you and your slutty girlfriends for free, the crowded cool party is the dullest thing ever, the gorgeous guy from the golf team has is really gay, the ... and so on.

_Life in Durham seems perfect, now_, she thought, _for the ones watching_. For the ones living it, not quite, she was sure. Some find it too late in order to make a change, others discover it just in time and some... some are running so scared that perfection is just the most difficult word in the spelling contest. Those were the lucky ones.

Because sometimes it doesn't hurt to see the scheletons from the closet, before the pretty nightgounds.

Haley knew that from the moment she steped into Duke's campus, a week ago. Everything seemed so big, full of history, full o past, everyone seemed so gracious while walking down those dark halls, nothing she hasn't seen before. She knew better than to fall for that again. Juilliard had taught her well. Maybe she would be wrong, but it didn't hurt to stay away from the madness of college life. 

Remembering what she planned to do in the first place, she began looking through a pile of clothes that were laying on her bed, near the window. Looking outside the window she was amazed that she didn't saw it. It was already dark outside. The reason why she didn't switched the lights on was that the full moon over her window was already glaring through the room.

She turned to her clothes, grabbed a pair of of kaky cargo pants and a black halter top. Yeah, she was sure that those clothes were enough to make her look casual, yet still feminine.

If she was willing to go to this party, that was more then enough. She didn't need to put a show for it. She didn't knew exactly how the „casual dress-code" worked at Duke, but she figured that her pick for tonight worked just about everywhere.

A small trace of make-up – eye-liner and strawberry lip balm -, hair swept up in a high ponytail, casual clothes. Yes, she was ready. _God, come on, it's not like your going to the prom. Just a party. A dull, boring, stupid party. You'll be back in no time_, she thought to herself. Like she wanted to convince someone. Mostly herself.

Was she scared, she pondered, while looking for that damn piece of paper. Where did she put it? She needed directions, if she was going. On a second thought, she could just follow the sound of drunken teens mixed with loud hip-hop and screeching wheels. But that wasn't an assurance that she would arrive at the right party.

„Here you are. Now, Haley, let's go, we don't want to make everyone wait for us, superstar.", she joked out loud, trying to lighten up her mood. If no one was there to do it, she wouls become her own personal entertainer.

It was already nine p.m. and the dorms were all quiet and calm. The madness was far from the start, though. _Maybe it wouldn't start at all_, she still hopped. Now, through the calm of the night, just a sound could be heard through the hallway and down the street that lead out of the West Campus. That sound... that annoying, slippery sound that still made you think you were on your way to a beach party.

Yeah, that was Haley alright. The single soul that could walk down those halls in flowery slippers, the ones that you could fashionably wear only in the summer time, when the weather was hot. Kinda like tonight, actually.

She was walking calmly, fidgeting with the piece of paper that was giving her directions through the campus, to the party. _Huh, first party of the year._ It was suppose to be dark and depressing. At least that said in the flyer. And that was the reason that was driving her in the first place to this shinzy. The girl that gave her the flyer said that it was suppose to be a „welcome, lonely souls of yesterday, Duke's finest of tomorrow" kinda thing. _What? You couldn't just have said „free food and drinks for the freshmen and a free show for the oldies that were hunting for fresh meat"? _

Oh, god, that story was so old, it wasn't even funny anymore. Let's see just how right was she, anyway. That was the purpose, actually. To give this place a chance, right?

She arrived 10 minutes later at the place known as Rick's Crib. 

„Jeez, watch too much MTV?" she mumbled while comparing The Crib with the ones she knew were purposely presented for show off on MTV. She knew that from experience. Hers. Others. And yeah, it was show off, all right. Everything was so perfect, so new, so shinny, so polished, so „just bought it today, don't know how to use it, though".

„I just hope you have enough courrage to call your cleaning lady tomorrow morning", she thought while zooming the place that was actually quite full. And loud. And full of freshmen.

What? Freshmen? Where did they came from? Everyone was already here, but she hasn't seen a soul in campus the whole week. Where did they hid, in this crib's basement? Oh, well, note to self: while on holiday, people _really_ stayed far away from school and everything related.

She scanned the living room or at least she thought it was the living room. It was big, really big, full of couches and throw pillows, where everyone was just laying, if they weren't taking the bar by storm. Oh, they have a bar too, there, to the left, by those tinny colored lights. And a gigantic home cinema station to the right. Next to the fireplace. And a large terase/balcony right in front. And a swimming pool?

Waw. This was serios show off. Who was this Rick dude anyway?

Everyone seemed to have fun, but not too much. Like they were still waiting for the curfew or something. To her shock, the girls where still dressed, the guys where still awake, nothing was broken or scattered yet. _Waw. Not falling for that one yet_. The night was still young, she thought.

She walked to the bar. If she was giving it a chance, she needed a drink to make the decision more... permanent.

„A beer, please!" she said while the girl from behind the bar was serving some clearly underaged girls something colorful, but unidentified.

„Just a second!" the girl said. „Here you go. Enjoy the party?" she asked while cleaning the bar table.

„Yeah, I guess. Whose is it anyway?" Haley asked, still trying to figure out who would put their place through this serious suffering. 

„Don't you know? Why, it's Rick's, doh!" she joked while eyeing the underaged girls that were still glued to the bar stools.

Haley shrugged while drinking her beer. She didn't know just how this joking thing was going here at Duke's. So it was best to play it safe.

„Freshman?" the girl asked obviously trying to socialize with everyone.

„No. Actually sophmore. Transfered." answered Haley with a little shyness in her voice. „I hope this party wasn't Freshmen Only." She smiled, still trying to sound polite and indifferent.

„Hey, no! That was only a teaser for people to actually show up. As you can see, the place is actually full of sophmores and seniors. I guess the freshmen aren't here yet or they're unpacking... or they're just scared." The girl joked again, this time adding a laugh for the effect.

Haley scanned the room more serious now. The girl was right. With the exception of the Kindergarden Club still hanging around the bar, the party was full of people that already knew each other. She smiled politely back at the girl. So she was wrong with this one.

„I'm Rick! Actually it's Ricky... it's my house." the girl said to Haley after she turned around to face her again.

„Wow! Ah... nice to meet you, Rick...y...ah, I'm sorry!" Haley managed to say, still in shock. She hadn't expected it, that's for sure. How was it possible? She thought this Rick was a guy, a „dude", a stupid jock, not someone like... Ricky. Friendly, decent, polite, not blonde, with glasses. Wow. And willing to put her own place through this.

„I know what you're thinking? Am I nuts? No, I'm not. Actually, I was the one that supported this idea since freshman year. As a matter of fact, it's my sister's tradition. She graduated last year, and now I'm the one that takes her place."

„I haven't seen you here before. I guess you're really new here..." Ricky continued, while she served everyone at the bar "see, this place is known as Party Central for several years, actually. And, as you can see, after all this time, it still stands. But, now, really, it's not like it appears to be. The hurricane only stroke twice, during the reign of my sister, actually. Since then, I guess everybody learned their lesson: as long as you get the place, the drinks, the social life and no cops, keep it clean... with all of it.", explained Ricky thinking that Haley was already making her own missjudgment and not wanting for her to get the wrong idea. Not during her first Rick party. I guess, that was just her, being nice. 

„Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to appear scared or to missjudge this... Actually, I was kinda feeling relieved. I mean, that you're Ricky. Oh, where are my manners. I'm Haley. It's really nice to meet you.", said Haley stretching a very shacky hand to Ricky.

„Nice to meet you too, Haley. And welcome to Duke!"

„Thank you! And thank you for the drink... it's good. What is it?", asked Haley sipping the brownish drink that Ricky handed her. It was really good and alcohol free, actually.

„It's Chococherry, see?" asked Ricky while showing Haley how she made it. „My invention, actually. I figured you didn't want to start with the alcohol, not yet. You don't look like an alcohol girl, sorry, if I might add."

„You're right, no problem. I don't drink much... not anymore. I guess it's the old saying: been there, done that... next. Or not", laught Haley. „ Let's just say I'm allergic to it, now.", she said smiling, and _really_ trying to sound at ease with the subject. 

„I know what you mean. Just look at the Hilton Sisterhood..." pointed Ricky to the girls that were trying now – really hard – to get some guy's attention, unsuccessfully. „I just hope they'll learn their lesson soon."

„So, this party, really nice, actually and kinda low-key. I like the music. What is it? This song, I mean.", asked Haley, while on the backgroud, you could actually hear a decent „not so rap, not so rock" song.

„Oh, I love this song. It's Hands Down, by Dashboard Confessional!", said Ricky, trying to move with the beat, behind the bar.

Haley looked around, more confident now. It felt nice, really nice and not so scary anymore. The talk that she had with Ricky calmed her in a way she didn't expected it. And actually meeting someone so nice actually amazed her. Were her walls slowly coming down... so easilly? 

The place felt really crowded now, and that wasn't because it was full of people, but because those people were actually dancing, talking, enjoying the party, not laying around or hiding in the rooms of the house. And it really looked like everyone loved this song. They were singing and dancing and for Haley this felt like fun. She realised she was begining to enjoy the night, as well.

--- 

„Wow, guys! Really... Couldn't stay away from it for too long, huh? We said **variety** this year. And, we just got here, this afternoon."

„Nathan, come on. You actually have a better idea for tonight? And since when do you buy all that we sell to you, huh?", Mouth asked, trying hard not to laugh at the way Nathan was trying to slow down the pace of the group. They would soon arrive, so there really was no need to fight it anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

And then they were 4... waiting for Lucas to catch up.

Nathan was still trying to slow down the party frenzy that was quickly catching up with the group's spirit. Mouth was talking with TJ about some video game that was supposed to be in stores next week, while Biggy... well, Biggy was still trying to figure out how to keep his shirt buttoned, because it was hot out there, still hot for a late August night. _No buttons will do, the whifebeater is enough cover_, he thought.

So that was the Rat Pack, all walking down the campus street. Actually that wasn't the whole gang. It was missing two. Lucas Scott and Jake Jagielski, _Senior year's finest_. Or at least, that's what they wanted to be called in the gang. Funny, because they were really _fine_, actually. Every girl around the campus thought so, while fantasizing about them every now and then. Almost everyday. Actually every second.

The six of them were known as Duke's Rat Pack, the only rat pack that lasted this long, actually, the only rat pack that didn't went through the madness of being a Duke student, or a Blue Devil's player, or a popular sports commentator mostly know for his grandfather's reputation.

Lucas and Nathan were the only relatives in the group, they were _the Bros_. Nathan was the youngest, he was 19, while Lucas was 21. Then there was Jake, Lucas' best friend. He was also 21. They were the elders of the group - him and Lucas - or, how did they called them? Yeah, Senior Citizens, Mouth claimed. „Hah, Senior Citizens who kicked ass after a Win," completed Lucas.

Then, there were the PDAs, as Lucas called them, or TJ, Mouth, Biggy and, of course, Nathan. They were all 19, now sophomores. From the whole gang, Mouth was actually the only one that didn't play basketball. He was the Special one, or that was what he said to himself. At Duke, basketball players were everywhere, while sports commentators, not. Funny, but true.

And pretty funny how the whole gand actually got together, in the first place. Their connection didn't come through basketball, as everyone thought it did. Their connection was a teacher. The English teacher, as a matter of fact.

Last year, first day of scholl, detention. How they did it? Being late for classes.

Lucas and Nathan were the only ones who hadn't managed to arrive in time at Duke's for the first day of school, they didn't check in until 8 in the morning, after a long drive from Boston to Durham.

Nathan was a freshman and he also didn't have his schedule so the late arriving, the late checking in the dorm room, the late coming to English class while the teacher was trying to explain the course program didn't help, at all. For Lucas, it was the same story, but in the afternoon, he did get to have a 3 hours nap, though, after their arrival.

Mouth was known for his late night spirit during high-school, so that was actually an everyday problem when it came to the morning classes and _that_ morning was the English class problem.

As for TJ and Biggy, hmm, how to put it softly. 9 am, dark hallway, two crancky and lost freshmen one way, one hands-full teacher the other way, an accident about to happen, that was for sure. And it did, sending the English teacher to the ground, with all the books and notes flying around. The impact was hard and nasty.

But the consequences as well, because TJ and Biggy were already 10 minutes late for Political Science and the English teacher didn't quite enjoyed that. Yeah, can you tell why? First day of school was never good to her, never. Why was today any better, she asked herself?

Detention. 

So there they were, Nathan, Lucas, Mouth, TJ and Biggy, the new-formed fan club of Mrs Blasko, the English teacher.

The last one to arrive was Jake, after 20 minutes. He was amazed, because the room was quiet and he thought that he was the only one to have detention. But he soon found himself being wrong, there they were, five other victims of the system, he laught to himself. At least he knew some of them. Actually just Lucas. And he thought he recognised Nathan too, but he wasn't sure. He hadn't seen him in a few years, he thought.

And that's where all begin, for them. Their friendship, their partnership, their story.

--- 

Lucas managed to catch up with them, just as they arrived at the party, still grumpy for the wake-up call. He still didn't like it to be waken up, even for a party. He was so tired from the road trip to Duke and he needed sleep. _And party, too_, who was he kidding. This was the beginning of his senior year and the end of an era. The Duke era. For him and for Jake. Talking about Jake, he still didn't knew where he was.

„Finally, sleeping beauty! Or not...", joked TJ.

„Yeah, thanks for the wake up, lucious lips. Having you whispering in my ear just how hot you were did great to my fantasies about you and Biggy there. I can't wait to tell Becky about it.", Lucas said back. 

„Oh, you know she'll love it. She's into it, you know?", added JT, with a wink to Lucas and Biggy.

„Really?", asked Lucas, teasing JT. „I might call her up on it."

„Yeah, yeah, only in my dreams you'll see her like that, and since you rarelly appear in them, you'll grow old waiting for that call.", joked TJ while the others where laughing at their banter and bikering.

„Oh, Luke, don't worry, you still have Jake, remember? Your part-time girlfriend...", Nathan reminded him playfully, while entering the house where the party was in full action.

Everyone was inside and scanning the room for their other friends.

It still amaized Nathan, this house, the parties, the people. In the beginning, he was in it for a real shock. Everyone knew how college parties were. Alcohol for free, girls all over the place and all over the freshmen, music louder than life and no neighbours to complain about it. He expected that and more, he thought while remembering the first time he went to a party at Rick's.

He was a freshman, a scared one, actually, and unwilling to take this college thing for granted. He really needed to focus on one thing and one thing only, though. _Basketball_. The parties, the fun, the drunken behaviour didn't go well with college basketball. At least that was his outlook. And he stuck with it through everything. And going to the party, the first week of Duke, scared him, but he kinda trusted his brother's judgement and now he was happy he did. The chill out, the music, the light fun, the games, the people, everything seemed so different from what he thought and that's what made him give the place a chance, that's what made him to come back after that. He liked it and he liked that his friends liked it, too. Now was no exception... well, almost none.

He was still tired after the long trip back to college but he knew better than to fight it, with Mouth especially, who loooooooved this. In fact, more then anyone. And Nathan kinda knew why was that. Because of a little quircky brunette who was willing to host this every Friday since he could remember.

Ricky Adams. Nathan knew Ricky from English class, Mouth too. But he didn't knew her as Mouth was trying to know her. Nor did he looked at or talked to her like Mouth would do everytime he saw her. But he was friends with her. He liked her because she was dorkish and funny and really infatuated with Mouth too.

But none of them would ever admite it. And that's what Nathan was trying to make them do since last winter. But, with no use. They where really stubburn. „Or really really scared?", he asked himself. Maybe that too, but he was willing to do everything to make both of them happy. Even come to the party, though he was half asleep on the inside.

„God, I need a drink!", Nathan groaned to the gang. „If I don't get one, I might fall asleep just standing here listening to you guys." 

„I second that.", agreed Lucas. „Let's check the bar. Come on, Mouth! You know you want to, so let's...", he said more to Mouth than everyone. Mouth imediatly agreed and was already half way to were the bar was.

„Hey, Lucas!", he shot back, turning to where Lucas and Nathan were still standing. „Have you two already fallen asleep?"

Nathan was eager to get to the bar, get his drink and enjoy the party but he too was stoped by Lucas' behaviour. He didn't move. He just stared at the bar. A light shock on his face. His eyes were expreshionless, his mouth was in awe, though.

Nathan followed Lucas' gaze curious about what was going on, what was making him so... stunned?

„_Hales_...", was all Nathan could get out of his mouth.

The room was spinning. He felt weak, he felt like he was about to faint, he didn't feel his legs, his hands were actually trembling. Shivers, that's all he felt through his whole body. His mind was blank, no activity there anymore. He just looked at the bar, in shock. What was going on?

After a few seconds, he felt like his blood was starting to circulate again, his breathing still heavy, his mind still swirling.

**His heart**. His heart was speeding and stoping, speeding and stoping again.

„Nathan?", asked a scared Lucas, eyeing his brother. „Nathan?", tried again, this time with more force.

At the sound of his name being called, he flinched. His mind was traveling so fast, his heart was speeding again, he didn't see or hear anyone else in the room but her.

**Her.** She was there. Was she? Or was it just an illusion? Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, maybe it wasn't her. But Lucas saw her too, he too was shocked, so it must be her.

**Her. **Standing there, at the bar, talking with someone.

He swallowed hard as he watched her. Her caramel, light blonde hair swept up in a high ponytail that kept swinging wildly behind her. At first, she was fidgeting with one stray of her hair that kept falling down in her face, and after that, she just fidgeted with her clothes. First it was the hem of her black halter top, then quickly followed by the right pocket zipper of her cargo pants.

She couldn't keep her hands still. And now she was dancing around the bar to that song. What song was that, anyway?

_Breath in for luck, breath in so deep. This air is blessed, you share it with me. This night is wild, so calm and dull, these hearts they race from self control... Stay quiet, stay near, stay crystal clear here._

Dancing. Yes, she was dancing, moving around with the beat like the music came from her body, from her hips, from her shoulders, from her moving hands. She couldn't stand still. Why she couldn't just stand still for a second so he can get a good look at her? And why was everyone around her, behind her, in front of her. Now he couldn't see her anymore.

„What?", asked a confused Nathan, still in awe. Turning around to face his brother, he noticed that everyone was staring at him like he was a freak or something.

„Nathan... are you ok? What's wrong?", asked Lucas.

„What? What's wrong? Hmm, let me see..." begin Nathan, turning to Lucas „Did you just see what I saw or is your mind playing tricks on you, as mine is?"

„Nathan...", tried Lucas.

„What?", barked Nathan while trying to get out from that room. He was trying to find the terrace. Now he couldn't breathe anymore. The air was dry again, he felt his lungs stopping again from functioning. 

„Wait. Just wait.", tried Lucas as he began walking with his brother to the terrace, leaving the boys behind them, and Mouth still stunned and confussed about what had just happened.

Thank God the terrace was empty and the lights were turned off. He didn't need noise, nor bright lights. He just needed air... and silence. But, damn, Lucas had followed him.

„Nathan, I don't understand. What had just happened? Cause I'm confussed as hell. I think I just saw...", tried Lucas, more calm now. 

„Don't say it.", said Nathan as he turned to face his brother.

„_Haley_, Nathan. I think that was Haley. And you do too. You saw her too, admite it!", Lucas continued, ignoring Nathan's protest. 

„Yeah...", Nathan responded, sounding out of breath.

„Look, I don't understand what's goin on. But let's just think about it a little. Maybe..." Lucas started slowly, then continued with more force „maybe it's not her. I mean, maybe is someone who looks like her. We saw her from a distance and, you know, it's kind of dark in there too. I'm sure it's not her!", Lucas tried to reason.

„I don't know, Luke.", responded Nathan, as if trying to ponder his brother's words and convince himself. „Yeah," he breathed heavily „Maybe your right. I mean, what will she be doing here, anyway? She can't be here. She's like on the other half of the planet, right?", Nathan said.

He was beginning to feel better now. His breathing was calming, finally, his mind wasn't racing anymore. He could feel the soft air of the night calming him.

„Right. Yeah, she must be in Europe or something. That's what Jake told me...", tryied Lucas.

„Yeah...", Nathan added, while taking a seat on the bench that was placed just at the end of the terrace. Lucas followed him slowly, not sure what to do. He knew his brother, he knew he didn't like to much company when something like this would _affect_ him. But, seeing that „something like this" didn't appear to be _affecting_ him any longer, he took the seat next to him.

This was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

There they were, still on the bench, on the deserted terrace, half hour later. No one had joined them, they knew something was up, but they knew better than to disturb the brothers when they needed to talk privately. So, there they were, silence surounding them.

Neither one tried to speak, afraid to break the calming silence. They were tired. They were more tired than before, but it was refreshing sitting there, just the two of them, as they used to do back home, when they were little. But no anymore. Not since everything.

„Maybe we should get back...", tried Lucas after awhile. „Or, we could just leave. I don't think we can handle a party tonight. Well, not yet anyway", added him, more playfully, with a wink for effect. They would have parties like this or better as soon as the school would start and they knew better than to push it tonight.

„Yeah, maybe we should go. But if you want to stay, I don't mind. I can take care of myself, Luke. Really!"

„No, don't worry, it's not that. I'm just tired. Really tired, actually, so we should just go. No biggie! One down, thousands more to go, right?", teased Lucas.

„Yeah", responded Nathan, with a light smile on his face. He really needed sleep right now, more than anything. But didn't want to drag the others, especially his brother with him. And he didn't want everyone to get the wrong idea. But, in reality, he knew that his brother, too, needed sleep because it wasn't like him to give up a party to go to bed. Not these kind of parties, at Rick's.

Oh, god. Ricky. Mouth. He needed to talk to Mouth.

„I need a sec. I have to talk to Mouth first. Then we'll leave. I'll meet you outside, okey?", added Nathan, now in a real hurry to get up from the bench.

Lucas nodded in agreement and followed Nathan inside. He left his brother to try and find Mouth, while he was heading the gang's headquarter, near the fireplace.

„Hey, guys. Sorry about that. Ah, Nathan and I... we're going to get back to the dorm. We can't keep up with this tonight, our modjo isn't really kicking so...", explained Lucas to the other, playfully. 

„Yeah, I know what you mean", replyed JT. „I think I'll take a raincheck too, if you don't mind."

„Okey. Sure. What about you, Biggy?"

„No, I think I'll stay and keep an eye on Mouth there. He needs surveilance at this things, remember?", blurted out Biggy in his parent-mocking voice.

„Yeah, we remember!", both JT and Lucas answered, not trying too much to go down that road again. As long as someone was watching Mouth, especially Biggy – who was indead BIG – nothing bad could come out of it. Unless Biggy needed a eye-watch too.

„Okey, guys. I know what you're thinking, and YES, I will really keep an eye on him tonight. No distractions, promise!", said Biggy with a serious face and making a weird sign in the air, like he was trying to take an oath or something.

„What? Who was thinking what? I don't think, dude. I sleep. In my mind I'm already gone", said jokingly Lucas, as the other two were laughing at him.

--- 

Haley was still dancing and talking to Ricky at the bar. She was beginning to have fun, and that mostly because of Ricky. She hadn't stopped talking since she arrived. And she didn't mind the talking, nor the joking, nor the dancing. She was actually starting to like this Ricky girl. Oddly, she kind of reminded her of Brooke.

Now they were talking about the bands that were planning on giving small recitals in town or at Duke, actually. Ricky knew most of the bands because some of the members did attend Duke or were from around here. But mostly, because they were always coming back. Needless to say that she was a music addict. Every band, every song, rock, punk, emo, indie, you name it.

„As long as it not commercial, bring it on!", said Ricky louder than usual because the music was becoming a problem if you were trying to make a conversation.

„That's what I'm saying... I mean, c'mon, Susie Suh, Strays Don't Sleep, Athlete, Snow Patrol, how come you don't see this on TV? They have so many fans out there, but still... Britney and Paris make the news, you know? And it's sad. Because that's not the kind of music that I grew up with, that's not the kind of music that inspires me, makes me relax, makes me cry, makes me laugh out loud sometimes, that's just not the kind of music that is actually making me feel alive.", explained Haley in one breath, sounding so passionate about it.

They were still talking about music and bands, while Ricky was serving people at the bar and now Haley was helping her too. Soon, they would be joined by someone else.

„A diet Coke, please. And make it quick", the rusty voice said, but no face was seen. Ricky knew better, though.

„We're out of diet, actually we're out of Coke... wait, make that we're out of drinks for the night. You might want to try McDonald's for that one", said Ricky, tryin to sound serious.

„Yeah, nice try, Ricky. You go to McDonald's if you're that brave, miss I-don't-serve-plain-commercial-drinks-in-my-house!", said Mouth, laughing out loud and heading to the bar, so he could actually see and talk to Ricky.

„You got that right, mister I-don't-drink-sparkled-water-or-anything-remotely-sparkled-because-my-eyes-could-pop-out-off-my-head-at-mear-contact!", Ricky teased back in one breath.

„Hi to you too. Nice party. Oh, and interesting bangs, by the way. What's next, contacts and fake eye-lashes, Jlo style?", joked Mouth. 

„Hi, thanks, thanks and you'd wish, pimp daddy.", joked back. „Welcome back, Mouth. Is the gang with you?"

„Yeah, well almost. One's missing, got lost in New York, still. But the school hasn't started yet, so there's still hope that Lassie could come home", moked Mouth in a southern accent.

An hour has passed and Haley was still at the bar serving some girls, while Ricky chated with Mouth.

„Ricky, do you still need me? Cause I think I should get home. I'm not feeling very well.", asked Haley, actually feeling a little flushed and starting to feel dizzy. At first, it started as that familiar nervous tic she would get when she felt watched, but soon it had build up in tinny sweats and nervous heartbits. That's why she started to help Ricky in the first place. If she wouldn't dance to keep herself moving, she would help.

„Oh, I'm so sorry. You didn't have to stay and serve people. God, I'm the worst host ever. Please, forgive me, I didn't mean to leave you like that.", Ricky said, more upset on herself and feeling really bad.

„Oh, don't worry. I wanted too. You're here all alone, serving all these people, you kind of needed my help.", joked Haley with a smirk on her face.

„No, really. I'm really sorry. I hardly know you and that goes for you too, and I you came here to have fun, not work. But I guess I really need an extra hand, as you pointed out. These parties start to get harder to handle when it comes to bar-activity. But, maybe...", she started again, now directing here gaze and speach to Mouth „someone nice, like, I don't know, Mouth here, could help me from time to time."

„Who? What? Who's Mouth?", asked a fakely confused Mouth.

„Well, at least I've tried", said Ricky more to herself than to anyone else and turned back to the bar fridge.

„Sure!", Mouth blurted out, seriously now and searching for a reaction form Ricky.

Nathan was looking for Mouth for several minutes now, and still nothing. Where was he? Yeah, maybe the place was crowded and everyone was moving around. But he knew this place as the back of his hand. And he also knew Mouth and his usual hiding places. But now, non of them could hide Mouth because they were all too crowded.

And he needed Mouth right now. He needed to find him, talk to him and get the hell out of there. Something wasn't right, he was feeling it. He didn't feel at ease and that's why he needed desperatly to run away from there. He was afraid. Of what he could see again, of what he could be reminded again. Of what could be if only that person looked just a little bit like Haley.

He was soon kicked out of his thoughts as he saw Mouth's back at the bar. He was talking to someone. Yeah, bravos, Mouth, keep working on it. But maybe this time you could actually ask her out.

He was now heading to the bar when suddenly, there it was. Again. There **she** was. **Again**. No way, this isn't happening again. 

„Okey. Great, you guys! I think I'll just head off...", said Haley timidly.

„Haley, you really don't look fine. Are you sure you're good walking back?", asked Ricky, aproaching Haley.

„Yeah, I'm good. I'm just tired and I need to get some sleep, in fact. That's it", she shrugged, fully knowing she wasn't quite true. 

„Okey! Thanks for coming! And thank you for keeping me company, I guess." 

„No problem, actually, you're the one that kept me company. I guess I'll see next time", joked Haley as she was trying to get to the other side of the bar. „Thanks for the drinks and really nice house".

„You still think that? Wait till you see it in the morning, without the people.", Ricky joked back and waved, as Haley was trying to make her way out through the crowded living/dancefloor.

Nathan was trying to figure out just why exactly his mind was playing tricks on him again. He thought he saw her again. But now she had disappeared. Again. Why was this happening?

„I really need to sleep. I'm getting delusional now too", he mumbled to himself while making his way to the bar where Mouth was still there. And still talking to Ricky. So that part was still real. „_Delusional_", he breathed the word as trying to put a diagnose to himself.

„Hey, Nate. Here to see your date?", joked Ricky as she saw Nathan headed the bar, obvously looking for Mouth.

„Funny, Ricky. You're a real Jim Carry, without the Jim, or the Carry. Nice party, I see the place still stands this year.", Nathan joked while trying to hug her. But Mouth was already giving him the look. So he stopped trying.

„Yeah, for now. You guys will figure a way to correct that, right? You always try, but still lamelly fail.", she playfully added to both of them. Nathan just laughed.

„Hey, Mouth. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

„Yeah, sure. Be right back, Ricky. I think...", Mouth said eyeing a strange Nathan. He wasn't sure, but something was up with him and he didn't knew how this talk would go.

Walking back a little, to a more quiet area of the room, Mouth was still trying to figure out what was going on, but before he could think, Nathan started talking.

„I'm gonna head back, okey? So I need you to stay out of trouble.", said Nathan with a serious tone.

„Why? Something's wrong? Where are the guys? Is everyone leaving?", Mouth started asking and also panicking.

„Wow, wait a a second. Nothing's wrong, the guys are still here, Lucas is trying to find them, and no, it's just me and Luke that are leaving. We're kind of beat after the road."

„Ah, sorry. Okey! But are you okey? You have that look, like something's wrong...", asked Mouth.

„No, nothing's wrong. Really, I'm just... tired. So I'm gonna see you in the morning, I guess, just don't make too much noise and stay out of trouble."

But Mouth knew better. Considering he knew and lived with Nathan for more than a year. And he defenetly knew the look on his face. But he also knew not to push it with Nathan. Not before morning.

„Okey. Wish me luck, now. Maybe tonight's the night", Mouth said, holding his hands as he was praying.

„Yeah, right. I've heard that line more than enough. But, sure. I'll play along. Good luck!", Nathan laughed and patted Mouth on the back. „I _need _to go."

--- 

10 minutes later, Lucas and TJ joined him outside and now they were slowly walking back to their dorm rooms.

„Are you sure you're ok?", asked Lucas as they approached their dorm house. He wasn't sure what was really going on in Nathan's head, but he was sure that everything that almost happened tonight had some effect on his brother's distant behaviour since they left the party.

„Yeah, I'm ok. I'm just tired, that's all. I need my bed and, I don't know, a week to get back on track", joked Nathan to ease the tension that apparently was floating in the air.

Lucas arrived first, he and Jake were the lucky ones that got the best room, right on the first floor. JT and Biggy were on the second one, right next to Nathan and Mouth. So they were all lucky, in a way. To stay connected, to be together in the basketball dorms. Lucas was still alone and was hoping to stay that way at least till Sunday evening, because he needed sleep and he knew that, when Jake would come back, he would want attention and loud music. Especially after New York. So he was praying that he could have his quiet time enough to get him prepared for the hurricane Jake.

JT was soon, too, in his room, while Nathan was still trying to figure out how to unlock his door in the darkness that surrounded the hallway. He just couldn't get that damn key inside the knob. His hands were having a mind of their own and they kept shaking. They haven't stop shaking since the party. He managed to open the door after a couple of minutes and some light curses.

And now, ten minutes later, he just laid there. On his bed. Still dressed, with the lights still off. Only the moonlight was making the big room more visible. He had the large bed by the window, while Mouth's was near the door. That was their arrangement at the beginning of freshman year. Nathan wanted the window as an escape, Mouth wanted the door, they could aford it, their room was big enough to keep an elephant in the middle, they thought back then. Things were weird at first, as roommates. But now, as friends, not anymore. 

So there he was, in his room, in his own bed, silence surrounding him, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't close his eyes, he couldn't sleep. He felt tired, that was true, he felt his body heavy and he couldn't move anymore, but, still, the sleep didn't come.

He just laid there, with eyes open, staring at the ceiling, that reflected now the moonlight more clearly. Calmness, peace, silence, was all that he was wishing for, for tonight. Soon, though, they all turned into a restless, shivering feeling at the thought of her. Haley.

Why did it happened tonight? And what was exactly that had happened? His mind began to race again, his heart started skiping beats. Was she really there? Why was she there? Maybe she was just visiting Jake. But Jake didn't came back, so why was she still there?

Or maybe it wasn't her. Maybe Luke was right. He didn't actually saw her really well.

And the fact that almost five years have passed since they last saw each other was a serious prove that Luke was right. She couldn't be there. And at a party. She didn't knew the place or anyone, for that matter, except Jake, so it couldn't be Haley. No, that wasn't her.

But sure as hell looked like her. Even though they haven't seen each other in years, he knew how she looked like, now. She saw her on TV. Yes, it happened once, on a Saturday, last year. Accidentally. He was trying to find something remotly interesting on TV, on a boring Saturday night, while taking a break from studying for his finals, when he reached MTV where they were covering some music awards. And there it got stucked – his gaze – on the TV screen, mostly on something moving on the TV screen.

That was when he saw her, for the first time after all those years, now a really changed person, not the beautiful brown haired girl, but a stunning long honey-colored hair girl, dancing with Justin Timberlake. He could remember that day so well, how she looked, what she was wearing, how she was dancing, the song she was dancing to. Everything.

And now it all came back. Again. All the memories swirling in his head. Memories, faces, moves, smells, colors, they all came back in tinny fragments. Pieces of a dream.

He didn't even knew when it came down on him, but now, almost two in the morning, hours after he'd arrived, he was sound asleep. And dreaming. Or remembering.

Dreaming about a memory. Remembering a dream. A teenage dream. That's all it was.

_Hands down, this is the best day I could ever remember... **always** remember!_

--- 

She arrived before midnight, she changed her clothes, pulling an old, large t-shirt with the Boston Celtics sign on it – her usual pajamas – and went to bed without any other interruption. When she droped on it, it felt like she had just carryed the whole world on her shoulders. She felt beat, drained, powerless. Like her whole life had just been sucked from her.

And now, hours after the falldown, she still laid there, on her bed, in the darkness of the room, eyes wide open. She wasn't sure why she couldn't sleep tonight. She felt tired, but her mind was keeping her – still - awake.

She got up, went to the door, opened it and headed for the small kitchen. Maybe some warm milk with a spoon of honey would do her present condition well. And she did just that. She heated some milk, poured it in her favorite can, put some honey in it and drank it. Yeah, it might have looked weird, even for her, to drink this stuff on such a warm end of summer night, but she really needed this kind of cure. She wouldn't be picky now, just a little desperate.

Unfortunatly for her, an hour later, she was still awake, sitting on the barstool, in the one quarter kitchen/three quarters living room, outside her bedroom. She just sat there, in the silence of the night, this time a little scared.

Why she felt this way? So tired, yet so restless. It didn't look like a cold was coming down on her, she was in perfect shape, just like the doctor said, a few days ago, as she was doing her medical check up for her dorm registration.

So what was it? Maybe it had something to do with her fight with Jake this evening. Yeah, she kept replaying what had happened and it made sense. Fighting with Jake would always affect her, would always consume her physically. Drain her from all energy. In fact fighting in general would always affect her. She couldn't explain exactly why, but she knew it had something to do with the way she would put herself on the line every occasion.

No, that wasn't it. Because she knew Jake, she knew that he was coming back tomorrow, she knew that he was drunk when they argued over the phone, she knew he would do something really, really sweet and corny to make it up to her. She learned that this was the Haley/Jake way to fight/make up, for a few years, now. So that wasn't it. That wasn't the problem.

Wait. Maybe it was the party. Yes, something from the party. But what was it? The drink. Yes, it must have been the drink. Ricky's drink. The one that she served her, calling it her special mix. But, wait, Ricky showed her minutes after just how to do it, even made her serve it to some guys to try it. No one had died. At least not yet. Maybe that was it, a slow, painless death. Yes. And this was the beginning. And everyone else was feeling it too, but just didn't knew who to blaim for it. Well, not yet, they didn't. But soon came tomorrow, and soon everyone will point at her.

_Wow, there. Where is this going? Calm down, miss Gilmore, your mind is traveling at the speed of light. Are you really serious? Stop thinking about it. That's the solution. Put a stop to it, go to bed, close you eyes, count purple sheep or elephants, for all I care. Just stop it and go to bed._

Restless. Tired. Nervous. Scared. Playing with her pinky ring, she closed her eyes.

She would eventually fall asleep at four in the morning, peacefully dreaming.

_The streets were wide and the gate was locked... you stood at the door with your hands on my waste and you kissed me like you meant it._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Morning. 

Sunday morning.

7 oclock on a Sunday morning.

Peace and quiet. Till now.

_„You're just to good to be true, can't take my eyes of of you... I wanna hold you so muchhh!"_

He lifted his hand to look for the alarm/radio clock, that he thought was by his bedside. Looking... still looking... No, aparently, it had walked to the other side. He tryed with his left hand this time, but only managed to knock over a lamp. Wow, that was close. And the singing continues. What was that? And why it sounded so off-key? Sleeping on his stomach, I mean still trying to sleep on his stomach, he opened one eye to peak around the semidark room. He couldn't see a thing. Oh, that awful sound again. He thought he was dreaming. Yeah, that was it, it was a dream, a really bad one.

_„Love is in the air, every second of the day..."_

Oh, no. Not another one. What is this, some creepy 70's Special? That does it. He got up of his bed, without any hesitation, now ready to face what was making his Sunday morning peace and quiet time not so... peaceful and quiet. He looked around the room, didn't see a thing. He grabbed a t-shirt from his messy pile of clothes laying on the floor and headed for the living room.

Aha. There it was. Nice job, morron. I guess - don't make to much noise in the morning - meant nothing in his native language.

„Oh, you're so dead.", said Nathan from around the corner of the living room, surprising Mouth who was in the kitchen messing with a pan and a bowl, while trying to dance – Dance? That wasn't dancing, that just looked like some pilates/pleading the Gods for rain kind of move.

„Oh, Nate! You scared the shit out of me.", said an out-of-breath Mouth. „I mean, good morning, Sunshine", he tried this time more cheerful.

„What's so good about it? You already ruined it for me. And, look at the window, it's still dark outside, _Sunshine_", said Nathan, mocking Mouth's words.

„What do you mean?", Mouth tried, looking a little dense to Nathan's words.

„Oh, I don't know. _You're just to good to be true_ in the morning, I guess", joked Nathan, now trying to sit on a barstool, in the small kitchen. „What are you trying to burn this time?", he asked looking at what Mouth was doing... or not doing.

„You know, the usual. Pancakes.", said Mouth, while showing Nathan the frying pan where he already poured something that used to look like pancake dough.

„Mmmm, great. Can't wait!", Nathan sing-songed, while trying to figure out if it was safe to go and make some coffee now, or after the disaster. Now it was better.

„So, what's with the the mood?", asked Nathan while seting the coffee machine on. He pushed the ON button, than dragged himself to the barstool again, for a little nap.

„What mood?", asked Mouth oblivious to what Nathan was implying or, for the matter of fact, to the smoke that was coming from the pan.

„The mood that could set this kitchen on fire again... Watch the hand!", said Nathan pointing to Mouth's hand that was too close to the frying pan.

„Oh, ouch!"

„See... this mood!"

„Okey... got it!", said Mouth, tosing in the near garbage can the first what-could-have-been-a-pancake.

„Allow me!", said Nathan pushing himself off the stool and heading for the pancake center. Pouring some dough in the pan, he began again „So, spill it. What's with the mood, the singing, the too early breakfast, the ruining my Sunday morning mood?"

„I kissed Ricky!", was all that Mouth could mutter.

„Wow." 

„Yeah, wow!"

„Finally!", Nathan let burst. Well at least some one had a great time last night, he thought to himself. "So, how'd it went?"

"What? I'm not telling you anything. What's wrong with you?", said a shoked Mouth.

"What? No, man. I didn't mean… Eww, no! I meant what did she say, not… ewww!", said a very engrossed Nathan while throwing the first pancake into the plate that Mouth handed him.

"Ah, that thing. Well…" began Mouth, a little to shy for his early mood "during Truth or Dare."

Nathan was the shocked one, now. Truth or Dare? Well, here we go again, back to the whinning and the pinning. Mouth blew it again.

"Truth or Dare? And who got to do it? You or her?", asked trying not to sound too down about it.

"Me. At first I was shocked, I thought it was a joke. But everyone kept staring at me like they were waiting for Christmas presents or something. And guess who made me do it? I tell you… Biggy! Yeah! Friend, right? And now everyone was staring, Ricky was staring to, obviously shocked as hell… so what was I suppose to do? I just leaned in and… ask her permission.", Mouth blurted out in one breath, while making funny faces and moves with his nervous hands. 

"What? You asked her permission? To kiss her?", Nathan tried, this time a little to obvious. The pancakes where already suffering from that reaction. "Only you, Mouth, only you!"

"Well, you know me. You know what I feel about her. Having her slap me in the face in front of all those people wouldn't do too good to my already bruised ego, you know? So I asked her… but, I don't know why exactly, she said yes."

"Well, I know why, mister Oblivious", said Nathan, more to himself, trying to turn to the pan now.

"What? … Anyway, she said yes and I kissed her. End of story.", Mouth let burst, to cut the story short. He knew Nathan's easy temper when it came to his "approach tehniques".

"Okey", Nathan said finally, not wanting to get to much into it, too early in the morning. As long as Mouth was happy about it, it didn't hurt to support him, it, this.

While Mouth was setting the coffee, cereals and Nathan's pancakes on the kitchen counter, the door to the left of the kitchen flew over and two big figures entered the living room.

"What is going on here? We're burning the place down again, right?", asked a very sleepy TJ, while Biggy was still trying to figure out where the couch was again. He could get hold of the couch. Like it was running away from him. Well, then the floor would do it.

"Hey, early birds! Check this out. Coffee and pancakes. You know, to celebrate our coming back to school.", Mouth said, showing the guys the too festive breakfast on the counter, while Nathan just shrugged. 

"What's there to celebrate?", TJ asked while getting himself up on the stool.

"Yeah, what gives? Oh, wait… Yeah, it's coming back to me now", Biggy grinned, now fully awake. "Mouth's little k-i-s-s.", he softly spelled, like he was a five year old.

"Heeey!", Mouth shouted from his stool, unhappy that Biggy was on the other side of the counter, because he knew he could get him. If only he could reach him.

"Watch it, Mousey!", laughed Biggy.

"Okey, ruggrats, stop it, now! We're having breakfast, we're back to school, Mouth kissed Ricky… get over it. I know I did. " Nathan tried to play the Father of the House role, as always. He knew that when it came to this part of the group, that part was necessary some time. Most of the time. Well, always. So he played it, and always successfully. Like now.

"I'm gonna go get Lucas too. If we all got to suffer from this early wake up, he doesn't need to get spared, does he? Sisterhood, right?", Nathan playfully joked, lifting his hand in the air and giving some weird sign that everyone was trying to avoid looking.

--- 

By noon, Mouth, JT and Biggy were the first ones to finish unpacking, how they did it, none of them knew. Or maybe it was because Mouth had already took out his equipment the moment he'd arrived the other day and that left him only with the small stuff. Or maybe because TJ and Biggy just threw their stuff around the room and in the closet, leaving them with the only possible time-sucking task: hanging out their basketball posters and trivia.

Nathan, on the other hand moved slow. Or not moved at all. He didn't knew why, but he just wanted to drag the whole thing. Unpacking wasn't his favorite task anymore. He got tired of it. He did it too often by now. Tree Hill. Boston. Tree Hill again. Now Durham. Then Boston again. Same old story. He knew it should really be easy by now, he memorised where everything went and how he could do the packing/unpacking thing really fast.

But now, it just felt weird and exhausting. He started with the clothes. Jeez, he had a lot of them. And then the snickers. Tons. That's why he needed all the space in his closet, and some from Mouth's. But that was him, his "passion", collecting snickers and bascket ball equipment, shirts, warm-up shorts, mostly all with the Boston Celtics logo. He just couldn't help himself when it came to Boston Celtics. In the end, he managed to get rid of most of the boxes and now was starting to sort out his books, posters, laptop, CDs. Everything needed to be out there, to fill the room, to make it more familiar, warmer, I guess. He needed this, he did this every place he went, put it all out to make the place his. To mark it.

--- 

They walked through the sunny campus, mostly making small talk, laughing at Mouth's almost successful night. They arrived at their court in no time. Their court wasn't the propper name for it, because it wasn't exactly a basketball court, it was just a playground where the gang usually hanged last year and decided to put a basket one day to make the hanging productive, as well. It came in handy, it was near their campus, yet there were only a few people that knew about it.

"So, are we going to talk about last night or you're still running from it?", Lucas asked suddenly, after he got back the ball from Nathan's grasp.

It took Lucas only a half a day to bring this up. Nathan was stunned. It was like Lucas' words had slaped the hell out of him. Like they woke him up from his daydream. He thought he dreamed it, after all. When he was so _gently _woken up this morning, he still thought he was dreaming. About the night, about the party, about her. But after Lucas' words, everything became so real. Too real.

"What's there to talk about, Luke?", he tried thinking if he sounded clueless to Lucas he would just drop it.

"Nice try, but don't play the amniessia card with me. So let's have it, Nathan."

"What, Luke? What do you want from me, huh? You said it yourself, it wasn't her. She couldn't have been because she's in Europe, right? And it doesn't really matter, does it? So let's not do this." 

"Maybe it wasn't her, but that still affected you. You couldn't have ran away fast enough. Admit it, Nathan… Is that a reason to shut yourself again, Nate? After all this time?"

"I'm not shuting anything. Jeez, what is it with you? It did nothing to me, nothing. Come on, Lucas, it's been awhile since that ship had sailed, remember. I'm not the same person anymore, I'm not pining after her anymore, I have a life now, so please, don't see to much into it, Luke. Please!", Nathan tried to sound confident and convincing.

"I know, Nate. But I also know what you've been through those years. And, I dont know, I kind of thought it all came back to you. I don't know… sorry, I think I kind of exagerate from time to time. So, if you're okey with it, I guess that should be alright, right?" 

"Right!", Nathan agreed, trying to focus on the game again and put a stop to the subject.

--- 

The room was still dark for that time of day. She drew the curtains some time, last night. She didn't like it when the morning or the afternoon sun would wake her peaceful sleep. It was her thing. Not liking the bright morning or afternoon light. It wasn't some freaky transylvanian habit, she wasn't into those things, it just didn't please her to much. She liked her room dim and peaceful. Mostly in the morning. In the evening it was another story. She liked the evening glow of the day, the sunset...

An annoying ring fell the room. Once. Twice. Thrice. Okey, stop it, now! I mean it!

She streched her hand to the nightstand.

"Where is it...Come on…" she mumbled through short breaths. She hated to be waken up so suddenly. And it didn't do well to her state, either. She felt strangled, beaten, exhausted. She pushed the OK button and answered the phone.

"Hey, Sexy!", the other voice said, hoarsely.

"Hey, Horny!", Haley answered back, fully aware of who it was. It didn't take a scientist to put the two and two together. That was their greeting, after all. Well, in private, at least.

"How'd you knew?"

"C'mon, Brooke. It's Sunday… hmm, afternoon, I think, and you called me. So this mean that you're still in Tree Hill, hanging by the pool, instead of packing your stuff and saying your goodbyes. Still dragging it, huh?", asked a very awake Haley.

"No. And who said anything about a pool? If you want to know I already packed, I already said good-bye and… I already got myself out of the horny situation. Last night. Twice. Hah!", Brooke teased Haley. 

"Wow! I sooo do not need to hear that. Honestly! My congrats and all, but that's it. No details. It's too early for me!"

"And I thought I'd surpise you with some hot new Duke stud… my bad, I guess, you still move slowly. Or don't move at all!", Brooke joked again. This time pulling her tongue out. Haley could already imagine it. She knew Brooke so well. Too well, she thought sometimes. 

"Only in your dreams, Brookie!", Haley said playfully. Now she was up and trying to find her slippers.

"Ha,ha and haaa! Now, please, tell me what's with your latest blog entry? Are you okey? You got me all worried last night.", Brooke said, more serious this time.

"Oh, you read it. I thought no one visits that blog anymore. Especially you, missy! Didn't you have better things to do?", Haley tried to make the subject not so … serious.

"Haley, you know I read you everytime. Even when you babble on and on about your music/dancing crap, I read. So, come on, tell me. Something happened? I know it's Jake, but other than that… anything else?" 

"I don't know, Brooke. I just… I really don't like it here. At all. Yeah, it's Jake, and, as a matter of fact, that makes it so much worse. He's moving out of his dorm. He wants to find himself an appartment and leave me all behind. I don't know, I don't want to sound selfish. It's just… he made me come here and I'm all alone, I don't have you and now… I won't have him either.", explained Haley in only one breath.

"I know, babe, but that's no reason to panic like you did. You know you're a big girl now, right? Do I need to remind you that you're almost 20 and you already travelled half the planet, all by yourself, by now?"

"No, Brooke, thanks. It's just… I don't think I can handle being here and being by myself, at the same time. When I was touring, I liked it. I liked traveling, I liked visiting, I loooooved dancing on different stages, in different places, every night. And that's the difference. I don't like it here. I don't belong here.", Haley was almost crying by now. She could already feel the tears from her eyes on her cheeks.

"Oh, Hales. I'm sorry! God, this must be so difficult, I know. But, honey, you gotta try a little too. Maybe it's not so bad, once you get used to it. And, just remember this, at least you got 3 more years there, instead of four, right?", Brooke really tried to make some sense in what she was saying. She knew Haley, she also knew that almost anything new scared the shit out of her. That at least till she got used to whatever it was. So, if she needed cheering, encouraging or simply banter, she always got it from Brooke. 

"Thanks, Brooke. Really! I know I shouldn't complain, after all, I still get to go to college and do my dancing, too. It's just hard being some place new, you know, without my friend or my annoying brother", she laughed at her situation. Talking to Brooke about anything for that matter always did that to her.

"Glad to imagine you smiling, sweetie. So, guess what!"

"What?", asked Haley, really glad that they've droped the subject. 

"Yesterday I ran into Quinn at the Center. She said the Center just re-opened and everyone was so happy about it, you now? God, how she does it, I don't know. But anyway, she asked about you."

"Oh, god, I haven't talked to Quinn since I got here. I just didn't have the guts to call home. I really wish she would get a cell phone, damn it. But what she said? How is she?"

"She's good, Hales. She's looks good, too. But she misses you and Jake, and she's so sad that you two are gone. But she says she has the Center, the kids, and that's what makes her happy. God, sometime I wish we weren't so divided. I miss the old US, you, me, Jake, Quinn, Tree Hill. But enough with the teary conversation.", she finished more chearfully.

"Yeah, you're right. We should just suck it up, it's not like it's gonna be like this forever. It's just a phase, right?" 

"Right.", said Brooke with force, grinning widely. "So, what are doing today?"

Haley began whinning again. She was remainded again she was still there, sulking.

"Unpacking, I guess. You did it on purpose. You ruined my 5seconds-positive-thinking again, Brooke!", Haley complained, getting off the bed and heading to the pile of clothes that still hang around her bed and on the floor. Jeez, she was a messy one. 

"You're welcome and you haven't unpacked yet? You're there for a week now and you're still sulking. Got ya!", Brooke said in victory. "Go unpack right away or I won't call you tomorrow, when I arrive in the OC…"

"Okey, okey. Don't go all Hollywood on me again. God, this Calli thing is really doing things to you!" she complained. "So, if you want me to unpack, gotta go and so do you. You're ok, right? Bags, my pic, ticket, food, sexy plane outfit?"

"You know it, sister. I'll call you when I get in, okey?"

"Okey, Brookie!", Haley sing-songed.

"And Haley, just… hand on, okey? Things will come around eventually, it's just hard in the beginning, you know?"

"I know, Brooke. Thanks… for everything. Have a safe flight, okey? And call me. K-i-s-s."

"I will! K-i-s-s right back atcha!"

She hanged up, took the clothes that she picked up and headed for the bathroom. She felt better now, much better, after the Brooke talk. It was always like that, Brooke was her biggest fan and her toughest pylon. And even if they were miles away from each other, their bond was always strong. They always got each other, even when they didn't spend time together. They've learned this lesson with Haley's tour. That was what made them stronger than ever. And that's when they knew that distance would ruin them, ever.

She got back to her room, fresh and clean, with a wide smile on her face. She said it, and now Brooke said it too, it was time to give this place a chance. Really.

--- 

"Hey, you forgot the beer, Mouth. Biggy, go and take some.", said JT while he scanned the list in his hands. They almost covered all. Food, check. Soap, shampoo, check. Body lotion for Biggy, weird and check. Coffee, whipped cream, cereals, check. Bandaids, alcohol, check. Bla bla, check. Oh, forgot this.

"I forgot something. I'll be right back, Mouth!", said JT starting to run like a maniac through the aisles of the supermarket. How did they forget about it? Even when it was written down. That's weird. No one ever forgets about it.

Mouth was reading some random magazine, when he heard a soft cough. When the cough became stronger, he lifted up his gaze to see what was disturbing his reading.

"Ahm, excuse me, but I want to… look around, and you're kind of in my way. Sorry!", said Haley with a genuine look on her face. She didn't want to disturb this guy's reading, but she needed some of the magazines up there and he really was in her way.

Mouth steped aside and let Haley continue her shopping, not fully aknowledging her. After he got tired of his magazine, he turned to put it back where it belonged. And that's when he got to take a really good look at her.

"Hey, I know you. You were at last night's party, right? Rick's, remember?", Mouth blurted out, sudenly realising he remembered the girl. The one that helped Ricky with the bar, at the party. I mean, it looked like her, he thought. He could say he had a pretty good memory.

"Ahm, yeah. I was there last night.", said Haley trying to remember the guy in front of her. He didn't look familiar, though. She thought back at the party, at what she did, what she said, who she'd met. No, don't see this one, she pondered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. You were at the bar, you're the girl that helped Ricky last night, right?"

Haley just nodded in agreement. She didn't know what to say to this. 

"I'm Mouth!"

"Huh?", Haley said with a loud burst and eyes wide open.

"Sorry. My name it's Marvin, but everybody calls me Mouth."

"Mouth?", she asked increduously, looking, obviously – too obvious, Haley - at his… mouth.

Mouth saw the look on her face, oh, that familiar look that everyone he'd just meet, got. The look of confusion. Yeah, and you're not too obvious, thank you.

After recovering some of her sense, Haley started. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean… to stare. You… have a lovely mouth, Mouth!", she blurted out, not fully realizing what she just said. Obvious, again. And obviously blushing, too.

Mouth just laughed at her comment. Well, that was a first, he said to himself.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean. I mean… not that you don't have a lovely mouth. Not lovely, just a mouth. No, that didn't came out right. I mean… god. I don't know what I mean. I wasn't implying anything, honest. It just… came out. It was right there, and it came out. I didn't think. Oh, god. I'm rambling again.", Haley babbled a very confusing and out-of-breath speech. While all this time Mouth was still smiling, trying hard not to laugh out loud. 

"Okey. Then I'll just take it as a random compliment, how's that sound?", Mouth tried to cool the atmosphere and to calm Haley's sudden reaction.

"Oh, great!", she said blowing out a loud breath.

"And you are?"

"I'm sorry. I'm Haley. It's nice to meet you… Mouth!", she said the last part a little to obvious. Again.

"Nice to meet you too, Haley. Are you a student here or just visiting? Because I haven't seen you around here…"

"I'm a student, sophomore, actually."

"Really? I'm sophomore too.", he said, trying to figure out if he'd had any classes with her last year. Nothing came to mind, though. 

"Yeah? Great, I guess we'll be seeing much of each other… or not. The campus is so big, you can definitely get a use from those maps they keep handing to you."

"Well, not after all this time. I mean, for me it's no biggie. But that's maybe because I'm good at memorizing stuff… places, faces." 

"I'm new. That's why I said that. I'm a transferred, actually." 

"Really? From where?"

But when she was about to speak again, two large figures came behind her and threw some things in Mouth's pushcart.

"Hey, guess what JT forgot? Condoms. Like, come on, man, how can you forget that. But, I guess that's because his ass is whipchained and he easily forgets about us, mortals. And, look, all he got was regulars… come on!", Biggy complained and grinned at Mouth, oblivious to the fact that Haley was still there, clearly hearing his whole banter. 

"Biggy, man. cough This is Haley! cough", Mouth desperatly tried to introduce Haley to the gang.

They turned to where Haley was. Noticing the tiny caramel-blonde haired girl, they both felt their cheeks flushed. They couldn't get more embaraced then this. Haley just stared at them, cheeks lightly blushed.

"Haley, these are my - often stupid - friends. This is JT", Mouth pointed to the tall, blonde Matt Damon look-a-like. JT just smiled at her. "And that one, over there, that's Biggy, can you tell why?", Mouth joked.

Haley said her greeting at both of them and sized them up. God, they were big. Looking at her and Mouth again, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Big and tall. Small and little. Odd combination, she thought to herself, sighing. Don't go there, Haley, she said to herself. 

They started immediately talking, well mostly rambling on and on about their new friend, where'd she came from, where'd she stayed, how she liked this place, but mostly about Ricky's parties. They put her in theme with the tradition at Duke. Study, study, run till you puke, study again, then relaxing at Rick's. That's where they all agreed. To her surprise, Haley agreed too. Her time at last night's party was … enjoyable, at least.

Soon, they arrived at the cash register, throwing their stuff on the counter. First came Haley, then the guys. They noticed that they kind of bought the same things, well, for Haley, in smaller quantities. Beer included. The boys tried not to be shocked but they couldn't help it. Haley just shrugged, not wanting to explain herself to three barely friends she just met. After everyone got their stuff, the headed out of the super market. Heading to their car, in the parking lot, Mouth tried to be friendly – she really seemed scared of them - , while the others put the bags in the trunk.

"Hey, Haley, do you need a ride? We can drop you off, if you want." 

"No, thanks, Mouth. I think I'll just walk, it's not that far, really."

"Ok, if you're sure. I guess I'll see you around. At school. It was really nice to meet you."

"Yeah, me too. I'll see. Nice to meet you, guys!", Haley said to the other and than started walking to her dorm.

First step. Met 3 persons - with Ricky last night, 4. It was a start, right? She said to herself while peacefully walking aroung campus, the grocery bag in hands. She enjoyed this kind of walks, she loved being all alone, but not strangely alone, you know. Just the peaceful and relaxing alone. The weather was perfect for her walk, there weren't to many persons around her to distract her, nor did she felt like she was carrying a thousand pounds on her sholders. Well, in her hands, maybe, but not on her sholders.

She scanned the campus' outdoor and sighed softly. At least this is nice, this place, this moment. Actually, it's quite beautiful. The flowers, the trees, the gardens, the old buildings. All. Suddenly she stopped, a little confused and now aware that she had diverted her road home, and was standing in front of an unfamiliar place. A beautiful, secluded, but still unfamiliar place. She sighed again. 

_Great, now I'm lost. Just great. Where's you head at, Haley, _she laughed sarcastically at herself. She looked around and saw no one. Now she could start panicking. At least she was still on campus teritory, right, in broad daylight. And she wasn't five anymore, right?

The place looked so untouched, secluded and, at the same time, abandoned, like no one even cared about it anymore. It seemed to have been something beautiful and taken care of, appreciated, once. Not so much, anymore. Like it didn't even belong to Duke. Everywhere you looked you only saw trees, big and leafy trees, and on the ground there were beautiful wild flowers. The place looked so out of context, like it didn't belonged, like it wasn't suppose to be so close to the civil life.

She fully took in the sight, amazed. _How come I ended up here, in the first place,_ she asked herself. It wasn't like her to walk around like that, so… clueless. But she was happy that she did that, this time. It felt right, it felt good. She suddenly felt at peace there, like it was meant for her, made for her, like it had always expected her. She tooked a mental picture of the place, she needed to do this. It was amaizing and she needed this kind of distraction from time to time. She looked around, noting every flower, every tree, every piece of old pavement.

The bench. A single bench, by that big old, kind of ugly, tree. She looked around again. No, that was the only bench there. How come, she pondered. She started walking, slowly towards it. She sat on it, placing her shoping bag on the ground.

God… this is peaceful, this is heaven, she thought.

--- 

"Where did you two ran away, I thought we had plans today, right Lucas?", Mouth asked from the couch, looking straight at Lucas. He had the brilliant idea of them unpacking and shopping, preparing for school. Right. Let the others deal with it, he mocked, knowing that was Lucas' habit. Full of ideas, not that big on actions.

"Hey, we're back, that's good, right?", said Nathan trying to stop what he thought was about to happen. "Mouth, what is this? Vanilla and Musk? Since when do I use this?", asked Nathan in a very confused state, looking at the shower gel that Mouth bought for him.

"Oh, sorry about that. I think things got a little mixed up at the counter... " Mouth tried to reason, now wondering just how mixed where their things at the counter. Well, he'll talk to Haley when he sees her, at classes, he thought.

Everyone was already cleaning and arranging and putting stuff in the fridge or on the kitchen shelfs, a really unusual sight for someone who might come in the room and saw this. But for them it wasn't unusual at all, they weren't quite thrilled about the prospect of cleaning or moping or dusting, but they needed to make this place theirs, their style, their way. Nothing more. If they were suppose to spend almost an entire year there without anything else but basketball and studying, they most definetly needed this. That was their home now, right?

Lucas headed to his room and did the same, well except for the moping part, that wasn't for him. But he suddenly remembered that this won't be his home for long, anymore. Jake and him were moving out soon, they planned for this for almost a semester, but today, he totally forgot about it. Maybe it was because Jake wasn't there to remind him or perhaps because he got used to this routine for so long – unpacking, cleaning, this room – that he forgot about senior year. His last year. God, how things changed, how time flew by.

He sighed remembering all the good times that had passed, mostly outside campus, at parties or while the team was playing away, just everything that he and Jake shared there. But there wasn't time for this road down memory lane. I still have this year to finish, then the "real" fun could begin, he moked knowingly.

The door swoong open and a very tired and grumpy Jake entered and without any word, he threw himself and his bags on the couch, oblivious to the cleaning and… the whole nice and clean aspect of the room. He groaned loudly, now fully aware of Lucas' presence.

"Hey, man! God, I'm tired. And that Ashley chick, God, she has the effect of a lobotomy… if I hear another Nick&Jessica refference, I'll throw myself of a bridge.", Jake groaned again, this time more softly, mostly because he was too exhausted.

Lucas grinned knowingly. He knew the tourture that Jake put himself through just to go to that festival in New York. He felt sorry about it, about not coming with him in the first place, about the torment that meant Ashley Moore, the most annoying person he'd ever met. This thought exactly brought him back to the day when he actually wanted more than anything to meet her. He and Jake were sophomore and they just got into the Blue Devils after some serious drafting, and she was just another cheerleader, eager to meet the rookies. And so she did, she got his attention, he got hers, they dated twice, but that didn't work out too well. So they started this whole friends with benefits pact. But that, too, worked only a semester, usually at parties.

Going back to those times, to that person he used to be, he sighed regretfully. Yeah, he was a player, he loved the playground too. But now, he got tired of it and he began to think that Jake got tired of it too. In the end, he was the one that suggested they get an appartment and … how he put it? Oh, yeah, "get their shit together", Lucas smiled remembering that umbelivable moment. He still had some trouble adjusting to the idea.

He just didn't knew that he wasn't the only one having trouble with it.

"Jake… I need to talk to you about something. It's kinda serious.", tried Lucas, still not sure how to approach the subject. That topic wasn't really their favorite for all sorts of reasons, mostly Nathan related.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Jake, where is Haley?", Lucas cut to the subject.

Jake immediately got the point and remembered that he hadn't discussed Haley's coming to Duke with none of his friends, he kind of forgot it, actually, with all that was happening. And now he was afraid of the discussion.

"Well, I guess you saw her. She's here, at Duke."

"What? Are you serious? What is she doing here?" asked Lucas, taking a seat on the couch. He hadn't expected Jake to be this direct, too. 

"Let's see… how to put it. Ahm, she's a student here… she transfered from Juilliard this year."

"But I thought she was touring… she was in Europe, right? That's what you said."

"I know. See, I kinda lied about that. She left the tour a year ago and she got into Juilliard. But… the reason that I haven't told you about it, was… well, I don't know, there were several reasons. First, she left us in the air with the tour and the college thing, we only found out this spring when she came home. She and dad got into this huge fight about all sort of things, mostly about her lying to him about getting in to Juilliard… and all ended with her transfering her. That's kinda the short story. And, seeing that we haven't quite talked for more than 5 minutes on the phone the whole summer, I don't know… I didn't hide it or something."

"Waw… so it was her. We saw her last night… but, I don't know, I just thought it wasn't her…"

"We?" 

"Yeah… me and Nathan."

"Ouch. I guess I didn't expected that to happen so soon. You know, she doesn't know he's here. I really am in deep shit now", he murrmured more to himself. He completely forgot to put the pices together – Haley to Duke, Nathan to Duke, both to Duke. Well, that really sucks. Because he had the habit of avoiding this topic with Lucas, but Nathan… that was never even considered as a topic. Period. And now, things looked like it would become more than a topic.

--- 

Nathan was still in his room, now propped on his bed. He was tired again. He sighed remembering the night he had and finally admitting that he needed some serious rest if he wanted to start the semester in full action. Now that he was a sophomore, it was time for him to make the big team, the Blue Devils, and that was his sole purpose this year. Well that and getting himself in a better shape, which meant tougher workout, earlier running, better alimentation, the whole package. Because that was the plan. He needed to stick with the plan. His plan.

Since they were little, both him and Lucas where familiarized with a wide range of sports and activities to get themselves occupied. That was their parents wish, that's what Deb and Dan wanted for them from the begining, to grow as two healty and active kids, to play, to have fun, to get used to doing sports and having a healthy life. The sports part came from Dan, former NBA player for the Knicks, now a big time endorsment manager, still for the NBA, representing the East-coast. As for the healthy life part, that was Deb 100, former topmodel in her youth, now managing a small stylist agency in Boston. She and Nathan moved there five years ago, after the divorce, leaving behind, in Tree Hill, a very upset Lucas and a very hurt Dan. But that was oblivious to both Nathan and Deb, even to the present day. 

He sat there, in complete silence, just thinking, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come, when he heard a knock on the door. It was Lucas.

"Hey, wanna come and play some GTA or NBA Live? We're all in the living… oh, and Jake came back, but he was tired, I guess, so he passed." 

"I'll pass, too. Same reason as Jake, I guess…", murmurred Nathan, not getting up from his bed. Luke would get the point and leave. He always knew when to take off, when it involved Nathan. They were brothers, after all.

"So believable I might ask the guys to turn the sound and music off so you can have your beauty sleep.", joked Lucas from his spot, near the door. "You just make sure you're up and awake tomorrow to go to class, ok, bro?"

"Sure, mom, whatever you say." And with that, Lucas turned and closed the door behind him, not knowing that sleep will mostly avoid Nathan again that night.

--- 

"Oh, come on. Again? It's the third time, in half an hour. And, yeah, she's still talking about love.", sing-songed Haley from her oddly sleeping position. "GOD!", she screamed.

Yeah, it looked like someone was in a Simpson family mood – and not the cartooned one - because the L-O-V-E fiasco was on repeat for almost forever… well, that was what half an hour seemed to Haley. But could you blame her, after the three hour Jessica Simpson special, with just a touch of Nick on the side? Yeah, it was torture for Haley. A bittersweet midnight torture, that kept her awake still. I'm gonna be so dead-man-on-campus tomorrow, she thought, now fighting with her pillow, after she lost the battle with the sheets. She was so upset, to say the least, so angry, so annoyed, so sure she was going to kill someone if they had the missfortune to pass her room. 

She didn't knew that someone would most likely be her victim tonight, if he would just get the courrage to knock on her door. Ok, here we go!

Getting up from the bed, annoyed and bored as ever, she wondered who could knock at her door, this late at night. Well, whoever it was, he/she will get it, for sure. Opening the door, she couldn't believe what she saw. Blinking one, blinking twice… yes, it still was there. 

"Jake, what…?", before she could end her question, someone behind Jake stepped aside, shocking the hell out of Haley.

"Brooke?" 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Brooke? What is going on? What are you doing here?... Jake?", she couldn't help but asking and wondering what they were doing there, what she was doing there, in her room, at Duke, bags laying now on the floor of the living room.

Getting up from her place on the couch, Brooke tried to approach a still pacing Haley.

"Is that the way to greet me, Hales? Come on…" Brooke pretended to be upset by Haley's reaction. "Ok… well, here it is… Surprise!", cheered Brooke while showing Haley a pile of documents, all with Duke's stamp and logo.

"What... What is this? Brooke, are you kidding me? Jake, say something, don't just lay there, moron. What is _this_?"

"I'm your room-mate. There it is: _Brooke Davis, room 32B_. See?" 

"Brooke…", sqeeled a very happy Haley, now not allowing Brooke not even to breath from the hug she pulled her in. She was so happy. Brooke, _her_ Brooke, was there, with her, at Duke. And to top it all, she was her room-mate.

"But how? How could you?"

"Same way you could. 'Daddy dear'. As long as you still have it, why don't enjoy it, right? That bastard still owed me for me paying my own tuition last year at UCLA and so… I _gently_ asked him to do this for me. Don't look at me like that, you know he hasn't changed a bit, so why would I spare him the suffering? Now, come and help me with the bags, girlie. We need to get ourselves ready for first day of school, right?". Brooke grabed her bags and headed in a hurry to the bedroom, happy that she finally arrived and more than content about Haley's reaction. She knew she would surprise her. Jake was right, that was what both of them needed this year, they needed each other and so they got each other.

"Thank you, Jake. I love you!", she wispered to Jake, while pulling him into a big hug.

After an hour of explaining and catching up with both of them, Jake managed to pull himself out of the room, knowing that the two girls needed to be left alone. At least he did one last good thing, he thought. 

Haley was indeed happy and speechless about everything that had happened. One moment she was cursing, the next she was in full bliss. Brooke being there, with her, was all that she wanted, all that she thought she needed to survive Duke. She wouldn't be alone anymore. 

Everyone was happy now, Brooke was happy because she had Haley back, Haley was happy because she wouldn't be alone anymore, and Jake… Jake was happy for both of them. Now, he knew that he could leave Haley at Duke without any worries. Well, at least for now.

--- 

"Come on, Brooke, we're gonna be late again. You know what happened yesterday, you want that speech all over again? Now get you ass out of the bathroom before I get in and pull a candid camera on you... Broooooke!", Haley whined, dressed and ready to go to her classes. She really didn't want to be late today, not after all the running and the preaching they both had to get from everyone just yesterday. And all because Brooke still had her stupid habits, just like in the childhood – make up, clothes, not good, change... make up again, clothes, still not good... and on and on, again. And for Haley, that wasn't quite the propper way to leave an impression as a tranffered student.

"Haley, since when do you use this?", asked Brooke throwing the shower gel at Haley. "Eww, you had someone in here?"

"NO! God, no! I went shopping the other day and somehow I mixed some of my stuff with someone elses'… that's how I got it! And it actually smells good… Now, please, get out of there so we can actually get to class today… pleeease!"

They soon managed to leave their room and head out to their Art History course they had that morning. The professor was, unfortunatly already in class, to their surprise, and he was now presenting this semester's schedule.

They slowly entered the room, trying to spill out their mumbling speech about the door numbers and missleading maps, but the professor just ignored them. Pfeew! That was close. Scanning the room for empty seats they found them at the end of the last row, to the right. 

"Where are you, come on…", Haley mumbled through small breaths. God, she really wasn't good at finding things. She gave up, finally, now trying to find someone kind enough to borrow her a pen. She knew Brooke wouldn't even bother to take notes, so... Turning to her right, she slowly poked in the arm the boy that sat next to her. 

"Excuse me. Hi. Ahm, do you have a pen to borrow? I kinda missplaced mine and this professor is already reaching chapter 2 of the course, so…", she tried politely, giving the guy her most sincere puppy eyes she ever gave.

Lucas stared at her in shock. There she was… again. Haley, at Duke, just like Jake said, and now having the same class as him. Waw, he thought, she looks different then on TV, younger. Lucas didn't really knew Haley. They lived in the same town for a small period of time, but they never met. She knew about her from Jake, from TV and… from Nathan. God, Nathan. He was in it for a shock and that scared him to even think about it. He didn't want to be the one to tell him, nor did he want to witness the moment Nathan would find out that Haley – _his_ Haley – was at Duke. Everyone was in it for a surprise, he thought, sighing again. Haley and Nathan … He just hoped that, eventually, the surprise would be a good one.

"Sure. Here.", he finally answered, giving her his other pen he kept for emergencies – yeah, like that blonde's number, or that cheerleader's address. Oh, the good old days.

"Thank you! I'll give it back, I promise.", she cheerfully said, turning back to her notebook to catch up with everything that was going on in class while Brooke was now eyeing the tall blonde boy that Haley had just spoken too.

_Well, well, Duke looks more and more apealing to me_, she thought. Apealing, good looking, tall, blonde. Things looked good for Brooke and – not to her surprise, though, because she knew that staring would lead to it – now for Lucas too, obviously noticing the brunette that came with Haley.

Later, in the afternoon, Brooke managed to get herself to all her classes in time, and, to her surprise, she discovered that she shared some of them with the tall, blonde guy. This was a sign, she thought. 

Haley, on the other hand, had a hard time pulling both theory classes and extra dancing courses she signed herself to attend to. When she finally met Brooke at the library, late in the evening, she was already out of breath, hungry and moody. But they still had some things to print for their next Art History class. So they would do this first, and then go to eat.

"Brooke, just look for the XXth Century chapters, not all modern art. And, please hurry, I'm hungry!", asked Haley not lifting her eyes from her laptop. Brooke on the other hand had more interesting things to do, like trying to approach the hot tall blonde guy.

"Excuse me. You're in my Art History class, right? Could you help me with this?", Brooke asked Lucas, who was now having his hands full of art books that Brooke just tossed.

_Anything for a preety girl like you_, he thought to himself. "Sure. But you think you need all these books? Maybe you should leave some for the others, you know, maybe they'll need them someday.", tried Lucas to sound convincing while Brooke just shrugged and pulled him to where Haley was.

"Here, got all of them. Satisfied?", said Brooke eyeing Lucas as a sign to put down the books so Haley could see them.

"Brooke, come one, what'd you do, cleaned out the whole library?... Oh, hi! You again. Here, I forgot to give it back to you after class. Sorry!", Haley said to Lucas, now releved that she bumped into him to give him the pen.

"Oh, I forgot. I'm Brooke Davis and this is my very best friend, Haley James."

"Hi… ahhm, I'm Lucas. Lucas Scott. Nice to meet you, both." Really nice to meet you, indeed, he thought to himself. Getting to know Brooke was all he thought the whole day and now he got that, and meeting Haley wouldn't hurt, either.

"Lucas? Jake's friend? Waw,nice to finally meet you! I'm Jake's sister..." 

--- 

Several days had passed, school was now running smoothly for everyone: Haley managed to handle both dance classes and faculty courses, successfully, Brooke was still trying to adapt her old lifestyle to the new one, now with a little help from a new friend, Lucas, who was more than pleased to get to know the two girls, as close as he could get – having classes together and always finding themselves at the end of the day having dinner together, sometimes joined by Jake or TJ or Mouth or even Biggy. Which meant that the only person oblivious to this little arangement was… Nathan.

But that wasn't exactly intentional, though. Yes, Haley still didn't knew that Nathan was at Duke and that he was friends with her brother or the guys. Luckily for her, since the first day of school, Nathan found himself having a whole other college life from what he just had freshman year. Just like he wanted and just like he planned: _basketball_ was his priority now and that meant practice and running and trainning almost 24/7. His only focus now was the scouting for new players for the big team. Only a week from now... and that scared him. He knew that the three weeks he had had from the beginning of school weren't enough. So that was why he pushed himself, that was why he didn't have time to hang with his friends, nor socialize as he usually did every now and then.

It was Saturday night, a rather chilly September night, actually, the air was cooler, the landscape had long time ago started to change from freshly green to the redden autumnish sight. Yes, it was Saturday night, which meant party for everyone at Duke. That night, no exception. For no one. Including Nathan. It was Ricky's birthday party and that meant she wanted all her friends there, more than anything.

Lucas and Mouth had tried all week long to convince Nathan to at least spare an hour to attend the party. Mouth almost begged. By Saturday morning Nathan was already cracking. And now he was on his way to the party, ready to at least still keep his friends happy, not push them away. One more week, that's all he needed. Just one more week without distractions or things to occupy his mind, unnecessarily. 

Too bad Lucas and Jake hadn't figured out soon enough Nathan's needs, nor the fact that having Nathan and Haley at the same party wouldn't be something anyone could easily avoid. Or get over from. 

"Brooke, stop contemplating yourself in the damn mirror and let's go! You've been there for an hour… and, you know what, Lucas doesn't like being late. You might want to consider that… now!" But as soon as she finished speaking, Brooke was out out of the bathroom and heading for the door. She couldn't make Lucas – oh, gorgeous Lucas – wait. She had been trying to get more than his attention for several weeks now. And maybe tonight, being together, but in different circumstances, things could change, evolve, move forward. Oh, who was she kidding, she will have him by the end of the night.

Arriving at the party, Haley was eager to find Ricky first. She knew that the brief encounter that they had a week ago at the caffee shop wasn't exactly screaming "you're my best friend, come to my private party". Even though both Lucas and Jake said that she could come, she didn't felt at ease. But in the end, she got to go mostly because Brooke had pushed her against the door… literaly. Well, playfully… almost… but that was Brooke, when she wanted something… she usually got it. But only if Haley helped her.

Half an hour later, no sign of Ricky, Haley turned back to where she knew she had left Brooke with Lucas and Jake. But now, there was no sign of them either. And the place was still as crowded as the first – and last time – she was there. The difference now was that she knew mostly everyone and Ricky's way of throwing a party hadn't change just because it was in her honour.

She didn't feel anything in the air change. Maybe it was the darkness, maybe the beat that pounded across the room – both of them muting her senses. But she thought that she would've at least sensed something – some sort of shift that would have warned her _he_ was near.

As she tried to talk to some people she knew from Art class, she felt someone brushing past her side. Moving to let them pass they stop instead but when she turns to give them a look, they're gone. Instead her eye is drawn from the empty place where they stood, across the room to a couple that stands in the doorway.

There was Ricky. Being hugged by someone. Someone familiar... someone she couldn't see clearly, but who was screaming, begging for her attention. She couldn't take her gaze off of his familiar stature. The way he moved, the way he was just standing and the way he was hugging Ricky...

Someone catches his attention and suddenly he turns...

Oh. My. God.

„**Nathan**?" 

The conversation she was part of continues but she was long time ago no longer part of it. In fact she suddenly felt like she was part of nothing at all – there was only that feeling, that sudden stillness and that quiet hum in her head that was repeating his name like a chant – Nathan... Nathan, here... Nathan, there.

Nathan, here, at Duke. Nathan, there, hugging Ricky. And now he looked like he was leaning to... kiss her?

The cup slips out of her hand and hits the floor. Around her, a few people look over, some start to laugh, the ones that she talked to were now starting to ask if she was OK, but she couldn't deal with them, with this, with everything, anymore. She breaks away from them with a hurried excuse to get napkins and tears out of the room.

_I still feel the same, though everything has change. The pain it cost now, I feel lost inside of my own name. But I keep running… I am running… I keep living for the day that I'm with you._

She doesn't know if he saw her, saw her watching him, saw her drop her drink and then run away like some crazy person. She just knew she had to get away from there and try to start breathing again.

Luckily for her, he was oblivious to everything that had happened. With the exception of the light headache he was starting to feel coming, he felt really good to be there. Again, with his friends, just relaxing and forgetting, at least for a few hours, about basketball.

Her mind was racing with shock, fear, surprise... excitement. And a very strong wave of desire that she thought was long forgotten. She sighed frustrated as she walked across the campus, back to her room. _How could he be there? Why was he there? And how come he knew Ricky? Well, obviously because she was his girlfriend, come on, you're not that dense, Haley. His girlfriend, the girl he was kissing, the same girl that used to be friendly, and dorky and funny ... and now annoying. And everything makes no sense anymore. _

As she walked, upset, nervous, her mind racing to a hundred scenes and moments almost forgotten, she found herself at the same spot she discovered a few weeks ago, in broad daylight.

„Great, Haley! Really great... you did it again, moron!" she muttered to herself while scanning the place. To her surprise, the park looked better than during the day... and the almost full moon light was making the sights… sureal. Like they were from another space, another time, like they were sketched, drawings of a childhood fairytale... to her, that's what everything reminded her.

--- 

_A new day, the sun is shining, seems I'm closer to finding that life is more than what we hide… No way that I am turning as long as this sun is burning now… it seems that all I want is you._

The fresh air of the morning was enough reason to sober up even a dead person. And Nathan knew that feeling oh to well, now, as he tried to drag his still sleepy figure through some secluded pathway, near Duke's campus. Nathan usually ran three miles out, then three miles back to the dorm, but today he couldn't do more than two miles. He felt weak, tired, the headache from last night still pumping into every cord of his body. Yeah, he got back from the party at one and only managed to get a five hours sleep, but, unlike others, he still got some sleep. Lucas on the other hand had left him hanging and now he was running all alone. Well, not quite running anymore, more like tiredly jogging.

Heading to the one place where he usually managed to catch his breath and take a break, he didn't noticed the still figure that layed on the bench. Walking past it, he suddenly fell like the air was getting colder, the wind was blowing with more power, the leaves were starting to dance aroud, in the air. That strange sensation... that feeling...

At the sudden yawning, he stiffened. Scared, surprised, panic on his face, he turned around to face what was giving him all this... familiar feeling.

„**Haley**?" was all that he could mutter through short breaths. His running state was now coming back to him, rapid heart beats, short uneven breaths, shacking hands, sweaty palms, lump in the throat.

There she was, her almost asleep figure right in front of him, everything moving and floating around her just like in a dream. Just like in his usual dreams. But this wasn't a dream, the reality of this was hitting him hard and reckless.

„Uh!... What.." Haley asked suddenly awake and getting up from her improvized bed, shock on her face at the unfamiliar suroundings and at the... familiar voice. What was she doing outside? How she managed to fall asleep on the bench? _Oh, god, who slept on my back?_

Widely opening her eyes, rapidly blinking, she managed to catch the tall male figure right in front of her. Blink once, blink twice... 

„**Nathan**?" Oh, she must still be sleeping. Yeah, that was it. She was peacefully sleeping in her own bed, dreaming about him, as usual. But how stunningly good looking he appeared in this dream, all muscles and sweat. And he was in color, too. _Hmmm. Weren't dreams black and white? And why am I aware that I'm dreaming while I'm dreaming? Interesting. Let's see what happens if I move… or speak. _

"Haley?", he tried again, now with more force. "Haley, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, Nathan. Nice to see you again. You look great. Really great… Ahm, why are you running in my sleep?"

"What?" 

As she got up from the bench, the fresh air hiting hard at her face and knocking some sense into her brain, she realized what was happening. And what she just said…

"Oh, my god! Nathan?" she asked again.

Starring at each other, no one could mutter a thing. The shock and surprise weren't enough to describe their emotions, their numb presence in front of each other meant more than words could describe. Time stopped right there and then.

His blue eyes were clouded with indescribable feelings – shock, anger, fear - and his brow was furrowed at hearing his name coming out from her mouth.

_  
__I still feel the same, though everything has changed. The pain it cost now… I feel lost inside of my own name. _

He couldn't believe it. She really was there, at Duke. He hadn't imagined it, she really was there. _Why? With who? Why now?_ All those questions where swirling in Nathan's mind, as he searched a way to understand, to digest everything that was happening to him. 

"Hey! This is a surprise… ahm, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound really calm and keeping her cool, everything that was really impossible to do while she was around him. Even now, after all these years.

"Ahm…", he started, trying hard not to look obvious that he was a nervous wreck…"I should ask you the same thing…", he said with more force as he was now staring at the bench she just sat on.

"OH, GOD! I don't know what happened… ", she let out with a little embarasment, now starting to blush a little.

God, she still did that, blushing and looking around when she was nervous. How was it possible to forget that, the way she fidgeted, the way she played with her hands, the way she looked down at her feet everytime she felt being put on the spot. Just like he was trying to do to her now.

_This is too much_, she mumbled to herself. Falling into an awkward silence wasn't the best thing to do… but she couldn't help it. It really was embaracing… being there, a little oblivious to the fact that she just slept on a park bench, and now… in his presence. It was too much to handle. She couldn't do it now, it was too soon. Everything happened to soon for her. She could hardly breath, she was a nervous wreck, she kept playing with her hands, with her hair, with her ring. She really needed to get out of there.

"I…", she started slowly, not daring to look him in the eyes. His whole presence was making her feel small and restless. "I have to go!" 

And with that, she turned and started walking as fast as she could, as far as she could… from that place, from that bench, from the mermories that were starting to come back… from him.

_But I keep running, I am running I keep living for the day that I'm with you and I am waiting I am waiting I keep waiting for the day that I'm with you… again._

She left. She just turned around and left… again. He suddenly felt like he had just travelled through time, to a place where everything that he had witnessed, first happened. She left again, leaving him watching her small figure avert.

--- 

Entering her room, and nearly knocking down a box that was just laying there… why is this still here, anyway, she wondered – she didn't even bother to pull the drapes, leaving her room in the still darkness that she always loved. She went straight to the bed, not even bothering to get out of her clothes. But, as she layed down, she now noticed that her bed was occupied by somebody else. Recognizing the perfume, she pulled herself near the sleeping figure. She thought she wouldn't be that mean and send her to her room, after all, that wasn't the first time they slept together. They always used to do that when they were little.

And right now, she didn't feel like being left alone, she didn't want to be left thinking about everything that had just happened… 

"Haley? Oh, god, where were you?", asked Brooke, turning around to face a very tired and pale Haley.

"Let's just go to bed, Brooke. It's still morning. Go back to sleep, ok?" 

"No. I was worried sick. What happened? Lucas and I looked for you all night… he was so worried about you! Tell me, did something happened?"

"Brooke…" letting out a breath "Nathan is here."

"I… Lucas told me. Last night, actually…", confessed Brooke, feeling a little awkward about everything she just found out. And she didn't knew just how much Haley knew about everything…

"Lucas knows him? How…?"

"Haley… I don't know how to tell you this… Lucas is Nathan's brother. They're both students here, at Duke.", started Brooke, now fully awake and determined to get things straight... with everything. 

"What? They're brothers? And Nathan is a student here? Oh.My.God. I cannot believe this… " Haley stomped out of the bed, pacing through the room, starting to panic again, breath cought in her throat.

_No. No. No. This isn't happening. No way!_ She felt like she was living a really bad dream, a nightmare, actually… and she just wanted to wake up. First she sees him at the party, next up, he's Ricky's boyfriend, then she bumps into him in the park – her park – and now she finds out… he's Lucas' brother and he goes to Duke? This is like a daytime tv show, annoyingly unbelieveble. 

"Hales, sweety… are you ok? Please talk to me… please!" Brooke begged for Haley to say something, to do something instead of just laying there… in a state of numbness, now. Suddenly, she saw Haley lifting head and she immediately noticed the traces from the tears that were shyly streaming from her eyes. She's been crying all along… maybe before she got back to the dorm.

"Hales?" 

"I don't understand… why is this happening again? Why is he here, to torment me again? And why, oh, why did my stupid brother never told me about him, huh? I hate him… I hate both of them. Brooke, I don't want to be here… I knew I shoudn't have come here… I…", she let burst, choking with her words, as she was still wiping straggling tears from her cheek.

"Hales… let's just sleep on it, ok? You'll feel better when you wake up, I promise. Come, sweety, please…", Brooke asked Haley, as she gently pulled her on the bed again, covering both of them with the sheets and leting the darkness in the room carry them to a peaceful state of oblivious… at least for now.

_"The past has left its stain now, I feel the shame. I'll seize the day if you take away the chains of yesterday ... But I keep running, I am running, I keep living for the day that I'm with you, and I am waiting, I am waiting, I keep waiting for the day that I'm with you, that I'm with you_." (_Out of breath_, Lifehouse)


End file.
